Mike Sacks Talks About How to Find Your Original Voice
Mike Sacks is a comedy historian. In his fourth book, Poking a Dead Frog, he interviewed some of the greatest comedians of all time. My copy is dog-eared and highlighted, with quips from comedy writers I consider heroes and nuggets of knowledge on every page.
In Poking a Dead Frog, Amy Poehler talks about how no one can carve a perfect jewel and comedy is more about putting in time than creating perfection. Mel Brooks states that what you write should make you laugh. Not just laugh, but really laugh, from your belly. Patton Oswalt writes that you should have trust in amusing yourself. Get on stage. And keep trying.
I had the opportunity to turn the table and talk with Mike about writing comedy, gaining life experience, and finding your original voice.
Comedywire: Why did you first decide to become a comedy writer?
I worked retail for 10 years in Maryland and New Orleans and I wanted something different. I could have worked plenty of jobs, but writing comedy was the job I wanted to do. I grew up loving Letterman, SNL, David Sedaris, and other writers and that’s what seemed the most fun to me.
“When people ask me for advice, I tell them it’s not a mystery. It’s not impossible.”
It seemed like it was impossible to do because I didn’t know anyone who did it. I didn’t even know anyone who knew anyone who did it. It was almost like it was taking place on the moon. It was very mysterious. When people ask me for advice, I tell them it’s not a mystery. It’s not impossible. It’s very doable, but there’s certain things you have to do and, more importantly, certain things you shouldn’t do if you want to make a career in comedy writing.
CW: What are the things you feel you shouldn’t do?
There are a ton of small things that you have to teach yourself. There’s specific things, like if you’re submitting to a magazine, don’t submit to the Editor-in-Chief. Submit to someone who is lower on the editorial ladder who is hungry. If you’re submitting a book or magazine article, don’t copyright your own work because its a sign of being an amateur. There’s a ton of little things you teach yourself over the years. The most important thing is that it can be done, but you shouldn’t do it for money. Those who worry the most about money don’t make any money. The people who write comedy because they love it are the ones who become successful.
CW: What is your daily process for coming up with article ideas?
“There are a lot of ideas out there, but it won’t happen if you’re at home watching TV.”
The most important thing is just to do something everyday. Whether it’s actual writing or thinking about your writing. Expand your horizons and push forward. Even when you’re not writing — even when you’re only thinking about writing — it can feed into a future piece. It’s important to sit down and write everyday. At the very least, if you don’t want to do that, just do something productive. That can be as simple as walking around the neighborhood. I see a lot of writers do what everyone else is doing. They watch the same TV shows, they listen to the same music, but there’s nothing really to be gained from that. If everyone is looking in one direction, you should look in the other direction. There are a lot of ideas out there, but it won’t happen if you’re at home watching TV. The more you experience life, the more ideas you’ll have.
CW: You’ve said in the past that right now is the best time in history to be a comedy writer. What is it about the tools today that makes it such a great time to be in comedy?
“Now, anyone can be read or seen by as many people as anyone else. We’re all on equal footing.”
When I first graduated college there were very few outlets. There were a few magazines and a few TV shows, but it was very limited. Now, anyone can be read or seen by as many people as anyone else. We’re all on equal footing. Even if you’re a high school student now, you can write a piece that can be seen by as many people as a piece in the New Yorker. That’s an amazing sense of freedom and power that did not exist before. The comedy community is also much bigger. It’s amazing that you can immediately find people who have the same comedic sensibilities as you.
CW: I imagine it was a tough time before social networks. Was there a sense of isolation?
Oh, my god. I would write these pieces and put them in self addressed stamped envelopes and mail them to magazines and never hear anything back. There was never any feedback like what goes on now. It was really very isolated and lonely writing comedy. I’m not making myself out to be a hero, but it was hard. Now, young writers can get immediate feedback, whether its good or bad, and feel tethered to someone else out there rather than just working alone in a room.
CW: Do you see a difference between young comedy writers now and comedy writers from the “Golden Age” of comedy?
I think the work ethic is there. There are a lot of young writers who are working hard every day. If there’s any difference, it could be a lack of experience. The writers from the 40’s and 50’s lived life. A lot of them were in World War II. That was their experience rather than sitting in front of a computer and writing jokes or looking at videos all day.
CW: You wrote in Poking a Dead Frog that the best comedy writers were those who found an original voice. Why do you feel an original voice is so important?
You don’t have to have it. You can find success without an original voice, but those writers who are most respected and who really connect with readers or viewers have an original voice. Sometimes it takes years and years to find that voice. Louis CK talks about how he would do stand up and it occurred to him one day that he wasn’t really doing what he wanted to do. So, he went up and started talking in his own, real voice and it was at that point that he made a connection.
CW: You mentioned David Sedaris as an inspiration earlier. Many people think he was found overnight by NPR, but that’s not the case.
“No one just makes it. Tina Fey didn’t just make it. She toiled away for years.”
He did it for years and worked really hard. And the thing is that he continues to work hard — the guy writes every single day. Success doesn’t come by accident and it doesn’t remain there by accident. You have to work at it. David Sedaris has an original voice, but he didn’t find it right away. He did serious pieces and tried out a lot of styles before he made that connection. The important thing is he was never doing it for money. He was reading stories in Chicago when NPR discovered him and put him on the air, but it was a long road to that success. No one just makes it. Tina Fey didn’t just make it. She toiled away for years. It’s comedy and it’s about laughter, but its serious work and you have to work at it every day.
Mike Sacks is currently an editor at Vanity Fair. He contributes to the New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Esquire, Salon, Vanity Fair, GQ, Believer, Vice, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He has also been featured in The New York Post, and LA Weekly, and has appeared on BBC, CNN and NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Nick Jack Pappas is a storyteller, stand up, and screenwriter in New York City. He was chosen for the NBC Late Night Writers Workshop 2015. Follow him on Comedywire and he’ll probably follow you back.
Originally published at comedywire.com on June 12, 2015.
